


La lune

by HawkyBarton



Category: Corpse Bride (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Corpse Bride AU, F/M, Happy birthday Briana!!!!!!, M/M, fan fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26980336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawkyBarton/pseuds/HawkyBarton
Summary: The Corpse Bride AU that nobody asked for, but that has been sitting in my drafts pile for literal years.Also, happy birthday briana!!!!!!
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson (implied), Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	La lune

**Author's Note:**

  * For [weaveaweboflies (thegirlwiththefro)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwiththefro/gifts).



> A/N: I could not think of a creative title

Once upon a time, in a small London town, not so far away, there lived a boy who longed for something  _ more.  _ He was a small sickly thin, gaunt in the face, but huge in heart. His name was Steven Grant Rogers, and in just one day, he was to be married. To a woman, he had never met before. He knew it was his duty to marry this woman, for his family was rich, but had little standing in society. Her family had plenty of standing, but unfortunately, no longer had any riches. It was the perfect match. 

He just wished that he didn’t  _ have  _ to marry a woman of stature for his parents to have a place in society. Who cared what others thought of them? When they had been poor, before his father’s business had taken off, his parents had never cared what anyone thought. They had been kinder then, more gentle and caring. They would join the other employees for a drink after a long day or invite them to the family home for dinner. Now, his mother was more likely to smack an employee with her fan, then but a nice pint of ale at their elbow. It made Steven sad. 

He felt like the whole world lacked color, that everything was in shades of grey, He wished he could be like the butterflies that seemed to like to nestle in the small window garden he had outside his room. They seemed not to have a care in the world, flying from place to place, bringing beauty with them wherever they went. He wanted to be like the butterfly. He wanted to bring beauty and color to the world. 

“Steven, get down here this instant!” His mother called up from the downstairs foyer. “Your rehearsal is in 30 minutes!”

He sighed, back to the grey it was. 

  
  


*******

Margaret “Peggy” Carter sucked in a breath as her corset was cinched tighter around her waist. Her mother had been very insistent that she was to appear as small as humanly possible for her bridegroom and his family. She considered it to be a waste of time. She knew why they were getting married, everybody did. What did it matter what she looked like?

She was just slipping on her gown when her parents came into the room. 

“Too much rouge” her mother snapped at the servant girl who had just been trying to bring some color to Peggy’s cheeks. Bring some color to their  _ world  _ more like, Peggy thought piously. “You would make her look a charlatan”

“Oh mother please,” Peggy said with a sigh. “It’s a perfectly acceptable amount of rouge. Would you want me to be pure white when I meet my future husband?”

“Yes,” both her parents snapped at once.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, “Forget I said anything. Remind me again, why I must be married?” She asked, knowing the answer. She just wanted her parents to admit that they had squandered all their money. It was the only happiness she was getting out of the whole ordeal. Knowing that her parents weren’t as grand as they appeared. 

“Because we’re dirt poor, and his family has money” Her father snapped. “And you know that!”

“But what’s wrong with being poor?” She asked innocently. 

“The Carters have never and will never be poor,” Her mother said with a sniff. “It’s beneath us”

“But what about love?” She asked again, knowing what the answer would be. She, of course, would do her duty. But she wished with all her heart she could marry for love. You only had one life to live, why live it with someone you hated? It just made you miserable. As her parents could attest to. 

“Love? What does love have to do with marriage?” Her father said with a bark. 

“Do you think your father and I  _ love  _ each other?”

“Don’t you?”

Her father and mother looked at each other, sniffed, and looked back at Peggy. “Don’t be absurd Margaret. Marriage is for gain, not for love. Your father and I married for business.”

Peggy sighed, “Right. And I’m marrying for money…”

“Of course, just as  _ he  _ is marrying for a position in society. Now do fix that rouge, they will be here shortly”

“Yes, mother,” Peggy said with a sigh as her parents left. 

  
  


*******

Steven practically tripped out of the carriage behind his parents but managed to land on his feet with assistance from their footman, Phillip. 

“Thank you, Phil,” he said softly, making the man smile. 

“Get a move on!” His mother called out to him, causing Steve to sigh. 

“It never ends”

“Don’t worry Stevie, I’m sure she’ll be lovely” Phil said with a wink before hopping back on the carriage with their driver, Clinton.

The two men sat close by each other, sharing a secret smile that made Steve yearn for something  _ more.  _ He could tell that they felt color when they were by each other. He wanted to feel like that too. 

“Steven, come on!” His mother called again. 

“I’m coming, mother!”

Steven tripped up the stairs and skidded to a stop as the doors opened, and there stood his future in-laws. They were a scary duo - the woman tall and thin, the man short and heavy-set. There were frown lines set in their face and their skin was pasty white. If he didn’t know for a fact that they were alive, he would have thought them both to be ghosts. 

He prayed their daughter didn’t look like them. 

“Ah yes, the Rogers family.” The woman said with a sniff. “Please come in, our butler will show you to the drawing-room where the rehearsal will be held”

His mother flicked her fan open and fanned her face, trying to look dignified. “Thank you kindly, come along then”

His father took his mother’s arm in the crook of his elbow and escorted her into the home and along to the drawing-room. The other couple followed along. Steve could tell they were trying to make small talk, but they weren’t succeeding very well. 

Steven shut the door behind him and looked around their home. It was quite big and grand, but he could tell it had seen better days. He was sure that they had significantly lowered the number of staff, which meant not as much cleaning could be done on a day to day basis. It was actually kind of sad to look at. The home could have been full of such light and life and happiness, but instead, it was cold and dark and grey. Pity. He was about to make his way over to the drawing-room when he spotted a grand piano in their foyer. As a lover of all the arts, he couldn’t help but stop and tickle the ivories. He was sure the Carter’s wouldn’t mind, what else was the piano there for?

He pressed a few keys, and let out a breath at the sound of music filling the space. Just a few notes and it  _ felt  _ like he could see more color in the world. That was always the way it was when he did something like this. Piano, drawing, painting, dancing, it just brought him to life. 

He looked over at the drawing-room, the door was closed. He considered that a sign that it was okay to continue. 

He began to play some nonsensical melody, it was something familiar, yet something completely unknown. It was beautiful if Steve would say so himself. And he did. 

~

Peggy has just pinned the last curl into place when she heard the sound of distant music playing. She frowned, “That’s odd”

Escaping her room, Peggy crept down the hallway towards the source of the noise. Though her parents had put a piano in the foyer, no one ever played it. It was purely for decoration. When she had been younger, Peggy had asked for lessons, but her mother had told her that learning to play an instrument was “undignified”. 

The melody was beautiful, that Peggy did know. It was soft and sad, and it made Peggy  _ yearn  _ for more out of life. 

She tip-toed down the stairs and saw a thin pale man playing their grand piano. His eyes were closed and he was swaying back and forth as he played. She bit her lip, looking towards the drawing-room where her parents were sure to be waiting. The door was still closed, so Peggy thought she had a little more time to listen. 

She slowly got closer until she was practically standing next to the man. She looked down at his hands, they were long and thin. They trickled over the keys like they were built to do so. Peggy was mesmerized as she watched him play. She wondered who he was, the man that was playing their piano. She was going to assume it was her future husband, but one can never be too sure (but the secret nonsensical part of her hoped it  _ was  _ her future husband, a man who still had passion enough to play such beautiful music).

Peggy was about to open her mouth and introduce herself, after all, they had been unchaperoned for several minutes now. Just when she did so, the man opened his eyes, and upon seeing her there immediately stopped playing and jumped up, knocking the bench over. 

“Oh! I beg your pardon..” he stammered out. 

Peggy smiled, “No, I’m the one who should apologize… I was going to say something, but your playing was so beautiful…”

He blushed, “T-thank you… It wasn’t anything spectacular”

She chuckled, her own fingers playing along the keys. “It was better than anything I could have played”

“O-oh? Do you play?”

Peggy shook her head, “No. I always wanted to learn, but my parents wouldn’t let me…. Playing is for the servants, you know?”

“Oh…. Well…”

“I know. You don’t have to say anything, I understand”

He chuckled a little uncertainly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Right… Uhm…” He shoved out his hand, making Peggy blink a second at the abrupt action. “Steven. Rogers… Some people call me Steve”

Peggy smiled and took his hand in her own to shake. She liked Steve, he didn’t seem to care much for propriety. She didn’t know her future husband’s name, but she was growing ever more certain it was this man in front of her. “Margaret Carter…. Some people call me Peggy”

He gave her a crooked smile, “Peggy suits you.”

“And Steve suits  _ you,  _ are yo-”

“Just what do you think you two are doing?” Her mother said from the entrance to the drawing-room. Peggy’s smile dropped, as did Steve’s. They had been found out. 

“Oh nothing mother, we were ju-”

“ _ Unchaperoned?  _ You shall both get in here this instant! The priest and guests will be here any moment”

“Yes, mother,” Peggy said demurely as she and Steve both trudged into the drawing-room. 

  
  


*******

The priest’s eye twitched as Steve, yet again, messed up their vows. “Let us try,  _ once again!  _ This time,  _ repeat after me… _ ”

Steve gulped and nodded, “Y-yes father”

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows.” Steve mirrored his words and lifted Peggy’s hand

“Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine.” Steve lifted a chalice up and set it down

“With this candle, I will light your way into darkness.” He set down her hand and lit a nearby candle. 

“With this ring, I ask you to be mine.” Steve grabbed a ring and pretended to slip it onto her ring finger. 

“Good! Now this time, by yourself” The priest said tensely. 

Steve nodded and started again by himself. Peggy tried to smile at him in encouragement, which had been a mistake because when he saw her smile he tipped the chalice over. Peggy grimaced when the priest slammed the Holy Book shut. 

“Okay, let’s take a break!” He said angrily, before storming to the other side of the drawing-room. 

“I’m terribly sorry Peggy,” he said softly to her before his parents dragged him away. 

Her parents were conversing on the other side of the drawing-room with the priest, and though their expressions were always sour, she could tell that they were  _ especially  _ un-pleased today. She couldn’t really blame them, the rehearsal was supposed to be done over an hour ago. Their guests were beginning to get antsy and she could hear the murmurs around the room. She was sure that poor Steve’s nerves would be shown as incompetence around the entire village by dawn tomorrow morning. 

“Alright! Let’s try this again!” The priest said after a five-minute reprieve. “Let’s start from the vows…”

Peggy and Steve took their spots in front of the priest, right as the doorbell chimed. The priest slammed his book shut again. “Oh thank god it wasn’t me this time” Steve murmured, making Peggy chuckle softly. 

“Who could that be?” Her mother asked her father, who just shrugged. 

Their butler shuffled into the room and handed her mother an invitation. “A Lord Schmidt”

“Schmidt? Is that from your side of the family?” Her mother asked. Her father took the invitation and looked at it a moment. “No, I don’t recognize the name… Must be from your side”

“It must be…” Her mother looked up at their butler, “Well show Lord Schmidt in please”

The butler nodded and did just that. The whole group watched as a slightly older man with slicked pack salt and pepper hair in a pressed suit walked in. “Terribly sorry to be late, I read the invitation wrong. I hope I’m not intruding…”

“Uh, no, Lord Schmidt… Do sit down” her mother said as she pointed to an empty seat next to her and Peggy’s father. 

“Thank you” he walked over, swept the tails of his suit jacket back, and sat down. “Please Father, continue.”

The priest grunted, opened his book, and continued with the rehearsal. 

~

An hour later, and even Peggy was beginning to get upset with Steve. Did he not  _ want  _ to get married? Was he deliberately ruining their vows because of this? She asked him once if that was the case, and he immediately told her no, but she still wasn’t too sure.

After his last run through and catching her mother’s dress on fire, who was succinctly saved by Lord Schmidt dumping the ceremonial wine on it, Steve had been banished by the priest to spend the night learning his vows. 

She watched as he practically ran from their home and into the night. 

“Well, we still have dinner prepared, we mustn't waste it,” Her mother said with a sniff as she led the procession into the dining room. Peggy stayed back for a few minutes, watching Steve disappear into the woods across the bridge. She knew there were no dangers in their small town, but she hoped that he would stay safe in the woods. You never know what could happen in the woods. 

“Margaret, we’re waiting!” Her father called out. She sighed, turned from the window, and hurried into the dining room. 

  
  


*******

Steve stumbled from the mansion, down the cobbled bridge that leads out of town, and over into the woods himself. He landed with a loud thump in front of a nearby tree. “Oh dear, oh dear, whatever shall I do? I can’t go on like this!”

He moved off of his hands and knees and onto his backside with a sigh. “I’ve ruined everything…” he placed his head in his hands and groaned. “Why am I always such a failure?”

Steve dropped his hands between his knees and stared at the ground for a few moments, allowing self-pity to win for a minute or two. But then he thought about Peggy listening to him play piano and firmed his resolve again. He was going to make the best of this, dammit, and he was going to get through his vows if it was the last thing he did!

Hours later, and he was starting to get it. Who knew so few lines could trip up someone so badly? 

“Okay… Let’s try this one more time! With this hand, I will lift your sorrows” he lifted a nearby tree branch. “Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine” He grabbed another fallen tree branch and raised it up, pretending to fill it with wine that came from a piece of shrubbery. “With this candle, I will light your way into darkness” He grabbed another branch and pretended to light the candle. “And with this ring, I ask you to be mine” He grabbed the ring from his pocket, and slipped it onto a particularly thin branch that was sticking from the ground. 

He laughed, “I did it! I did it!!” He jumped up and down for a few moments but stopped when he began to hear a particularly disturbing noise. It was the sound of several tree branches snapping in half like the tree itself was coming from the ground. Slowly he turned around and faced the tree that had been sticking from the ground. The tree was no longer there. In its place was a gaunt, blue looking woman. Whose face was half skeleton, as was the rest of her body, her hair seemed to be falling out in chunks. She was dressed in a worn through wedding gown, that was ripped along her protruding ribs and down one skeleton leg, her veil covered in dirt. 

She smiled at him, “I do”

He screamed for a moment as she stepped closer to him, and then everything went black. 

  
  


~

“A new arrival! He must have fainted” A deep voice said from above Steve, forcing him to wake from his stupor. 

The girl from earlier was kneeling next to him, her lips scrunched up in what Steve assumed was a frown. “Are you alright?”

Steve moved up to his elbows, “Wh-what happened?”

The man who spoke earlier stepped forward, “Seems you passed out old boy” the man was a complete skeleton, adorned with a splendid mustache and a three-piece suit. 

Steve did not take the man’s presence well. With a screech, Steve jumped to his feet. “What in the world is going on?!”

“Oh dear me,” A matronly voice said as a door opened, and a fat but also skeleton looking woman appeared from behind it.”Looks like the newbie is frightened to death!”

“How can he be frightened to death? He’s already dead!” The man said with exasperation. 

“Dead? What do you mean dead?” Steve asked.

The man leaned closer to Steve, “My god. We still have a breather!”

Steve felt panic rise as several more half flesh/half skeleton-like people crowded around him. Poking and prodding at his body like they had never seen someone like him before.

“Stay back!” he cried as he hurried away from the group. “Stay back I mean it!” he said again as he grabbed a nearby sword and swung it at the crowd. Unfortunately, a body was attached to the sword. 

“Hello there, don’t you know it’s rude to grab someone else’s murder weapon?” The man said with a chuckle, making Steve screech and drop the man and the sword to the floor.

The man chuckled and grabbed a tankard of what Steve could only assume was beer, “No matter. A drink for the newlyweds?”

The crowd let out a loud cheer, different people pushing and pulling on Steve as he scrambled to figure out what was going on. 

The matronly woman bumbled up to him again and smacked his cheek, “Don’t worry dear. I’ll make you newlyweds the most wonderful cake”

“Ne-newlyweds??” Steve said, finally able to form words with his mouth.

The girl stood up and moved next to him, “Your vows were so beautiful. I couldn’t help but say yes” She lifted her skeletal hand and shook the ring that was placed on her finger. 

Steve stared at it for a moment in shock and horror. “What? What in the  _ world  _ is going on??  _ Who are you??? _ ”

The girl chuckled and looked down at the floor, “Well that’s kind of a long story…”

“And what a story it is,” An ominous voice said from behind them, making Steve jump and spin around. “A tragic story of passion, romance, and a murder most foul …. Everyone gather ‘round while I tell the story of the… Corpse Bride”

Steve frowned and sat down in a nearby chair. The man who talked stepped forward, though Steve couldn’t really call him a man, he was all skeleton, with only a hat on, one eye, and nothing else. The man jumped up onto a table and began to, what Steve could only assume was, jauntily sing a song that everyone else in the room seemed to know except him. 

_ This must be a common story down here,  _ Steve thought to himself. 

“Well, our girl is a beauty known for miles around” The man jumped and spun the girl around, making her smile shyly, “When a mysterious stranger came into town. He's plenty good-looking, but down on his cash. And our poor little baby, she fell hard and fast. When her daddy said no, she just couldn't cope. So our lovers came up with a plan to elope” Steve watched in astonishment as a group of skeletons came around and began to sing with the other man, acting out the scene they had just sung about.

The main male spun around and leaned against Steve, who tried very hard not to shudder in repulsion. “So they conjured up a plan to meet late at night. They told not a soul, kept the whole thing tight. Now, her mother's wedding dress fit like a glove. You don't need much when you're really in love. Except for a few things, or some told. Like the family jewels and a satchel of gold. Then next to the graveyard by the old oak tree. On a dark foggy night at a quarter to three. She was ready to go, but where was he?”

Steve felt his eyebrows raised, he wanted to know what happened next, just as everyone else in the room did. 

“And then?” The room sang in chorus. 

“She waited,” Said the man as he spun back away from Steve. 

“And then?”

“There in the shadows, was it her man?” The skeleton crew began to act out the scene once more. 

“And then?” 

“Her little heart beat so loud”

“And then?”

“And then baby, everything went black,” The man brought the girl back upstage, though Steve could tell she was uncomfortable. “Now when she opened her eyes she was dead as dust. Her jewels were missing and her heart was bust. So she made a vow lying under that tree. That she'd wait for her true love to come set her free. Always waiting for someone to ask for her hand. When out of the blue comes this groovy young man” Steve began to frown again, they were talking about him. He had set her free with his vows that had been meant for Peggy. “Who vows forever to be by her side. And that's the story of our own corpse bride”

Steve began to get lost in thought as the group finished out the song with a loud chorus and dancing. He at some point noticed the girl quietly walk out of the room, and after a moment, followed her. 

  
  


*******

Peggy looked out the window in the night sky and sighed. It had been hours and Steve had never returned. She knew the priest had told him he needed to prepare for tomorrow, but surely he should have been back by now? Wasn’t he getting hungry? Both of their parents were sharing an after-dinner nightcap and small talk, the rest of the guests had gone home or were in their prepared bedrooms upstairs for the night. They had all declined to have a nightcap, except for one, Lord Schmidt. Peggy still wasn’t sure about the man, something about him seemed off to her. 

The doors to the drawing-room opened. 

“Ah, Lord Schmidt. I hope the room is to your liking?” Her mother said as if Peggy’s thoughts conjured the man. 

She turned to find him smiling in their direction. It wasn’t an easy smile, it just looked sinister. “Yes… Which is why I am terribly sorry to be the bearer of bad news”

Peggy stepped forward, her eyebrow raised. 

“Well, please go on,” Her father said with a wave of his hand. 

Lord Schmidt nodded and waved his hand, a moment later the town crier appeared in their living room. 

“Sir, do tell them what you were just crying about earlier.”

The man nodded, “Hear ye hear ye! Rogers’ son who was set to marry tomorrow seen on the town bridge with a mystery woman, last seen headed into the night with her. What will become of the marriage of Rogers and Carter?”

Lord Schmidt raised a hand, “That’s enough. Thank you, you may go”

The town crier nodded and quickly left the room. 

“What? A mystery woman? He doesn’t know any women!” Steve’s mother cried out. 

“This is preposterous. A mystery woman a day before the wedding? Fetch me my musket!” Peggy’s father yelled as he jumped off the couch. Peggy would have been touched by her father’s actions if she hadn’t known they were from the possibility of lost money, not from her hurt feelings. 

Steve’s father quickly apprehended the musket from her father’s grasp. “Let’s not be too hasty, you never know with the town crier what’s actually true or not. Give us until dawn to find our son”

Peggy’s mother sniffed, “Till dawn”

  
  


*******

Steve had decided that his best option upon leaving, what he now realized was some sort of underworld bar, was to get out of there and back where he belonged. 

Unfortunately, the girl had other ideas and began to call for him as he ran about frantically. 

Everywhere he turned, there was something that was blocking his path until finally, he decided just to climb the closest wall and hope to get out that way. 

“You should have taken the stairs silly,” The girl said from the top of the wall as he had just finished climbing up. “Would have been much easier”

Steve sighed and accepted the skeleton arm she offered him and allowed her to pull him firmly onto flat ground. 

“Thank you”

“You’re welcome.” She said with a smile and led him over to a conveniently placed bench. “That’s what wives are for”

Steve grimaced, “About that… Look, I’m sorry what happened to you. I want to help you, truly, but I don’t belong here. I don’t even know your name”

She smiled, “Oh that. It’s Darcy…. Does that make you feel better?”

Steve nodded, “Much. But I still need to get home”

She chuckled and patted his knee, “This is your home now silly. Now sit there, I have something for you” 

Steve gulped as she leaned over and plopped a box on his lap. It was carefully wrapped in time worn looking paper and ribbon. 

“Consider it a wedding present,” She said softly. 

Steve frowned and lifted the top of the box off. Inside was a collection of bones, “Thank… you?”

“It’s no problem,” She said happily as the box began to shake in Steve’s hands. 

Steve gasped and let the box drop to the floor, the bones inside rolling out until they became the skeletal figure of a dog. 

The dog immediately barked and climbed up onto Steve’s lap. It took Steve a moment, but then he knew who it was. “Bucky? Is that really you?”

The dog barked and wagged its tail in excitement. 

“Oh my goodness, I haven’t seen you in years!” Steve said with equal enthusiasm. He turned to Darcy, “Thank you so much. Bucky was my childhood dog… My mother never approved of him, though she never much approved of anything”

“Would she have approved of me?” Darcy said dreamily. 

Steve chuckled, thinking about how much his mother would have  _ not  _ approved of Darcy when a thought popped into his head. It was a devious thought but in desperate times… 

“Actually, now that you say that, I think she just might have. But of course, I can’t say for sure since you never met, and I always said I wouldn’t be happy in my marriage unless I had approval from my parents…. If only we could go see them”

“Well of course we can!” Darcy said quickly, jumping up from the bench. “We’ll go now, where are they buried?”

Steve shook his head and also stood, “See. That’s the problem… They’re up there”

“Up where?” She asked, clearly confused. 

He pointed upwards, “ _ Up there” _

“Ohh…. Oh no, no one is allowed up there. The only reason I was was because you married me” Darcy laid her hand on his chest. 

He gently removed it and sighed, “Then I’m afraid I shall remain unhappy.”

“Well there must be  _ something  _ we can do,” She said uncertainly. She looked down at the ground, holding Steve in suspense. 

“I’ve got it! We have to go see Elder Gutknecht” 

“Who?”

“You’ll see! Come on” Darcy grabbed his hand and yanked him behind her. Steve didn’t mind this time if it meant he was getting out of here. 

She dragged him to a falling apart manor on the outskirts of the little underworld town, the inside was just as decayed as the inside. 

“Elder Gutknecht?” Darcy called out as they walked through the home and into an incredibly cluttered library. “Elder Gutknecht are you here?”

Steve was a little wary as they walked through the piles of books on the floor, what horror was awaiting them?

“Elder Gu- oh there you are!” Darcy cried out, making Steve turn. Darcy was standing in front of the most ancient-looking thing Steve had ever seen. He could tell the man had died a very old man, for his skeleton was hunched and falling apart, with a beard that hung to the floor and tiny spectacles on his face.

“Yes dear, how can I help you?”

“We need to go upstairs, to the land of the living” Darcy said quickly. 

“To the land of the living? Whatever for, everyone is dying to get down here!” The man said before letting out a cackle. 

“It’s really important Elder Gutknecht, or we wouldn’t ask”

“Please it’s important to me,” Steve said, finally speaking up. He quickly cleared his throat and looked over at Darcy, “To us”

“Very well then, let me see if I can find that book” he muttered as he began to climb about the room, searching for whatever book he had been talking about. 

After several minutes, he finally came up with a loud exclamation “Here it is! Let’s see here” he began quickly flicking through the pages. “Ah yes, the Hungarian Haunting Spell. Perfect for quick trips upstairs”

Steve let out a happy breath, he was going to go back home!

Elder Gutknecht began to move about the room again, gathering materials, and then mixing them together. “Yes. This shall do, whenever you want to go home, just say ‘hopscotch’”

“Hopscotch?” Darcy said with a laugh, Steve would have laughed too, but Elder Gutknecht threw the spell in their direction, and back they were in the land of living before he could blink. 

Steve looked up and breathed a sigh of relief when he could once again see the night sky and the moon, instead of a neverending black.

Darcy was staring up at the moon also, “I’ve been in the dark for so long… I had forgotten how beautiful the moon was” she smiled in his direction, before beginning to dance around the forest. 

Steve was eager to get away, but he couldn’t help but notice how graceful she was as she danced, how full of life she was even being dead. He must admit if only to himself, it was nice to see someone so happy for once. Everyone up here was so… dull. 

He eventually stopped her with a hand to her arm, “I think it would be best if I… warned mother, beforehand, okay? You just wait here”

Darcy nodded and sat down on a nearby tree stump, “Okay. But don’t be too long Steve darling. I’m very eager to meet them”

“Oh yes, of course. Now, no peeking!” He said before hurrying off. 

He had no intention of going to his home, and instead was going straight to Peggy’s mansion. He needed to tell her that he may love her and that the idea of marrying her was a good one. He also needed to explain what happened. Surely she would be able to think of something to get him out of this mess.

He snuck along the outer wall of the Carter’s mansion, pausing when he heard her parents' voices from inside. 

“When I see that Rogers boy, I’ll strangle him myself!” Her father said angrily.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous. His throat is too small, we must use a rope” Her mother said in return. 

Steve gulped, but pressed on, climbing upwards when he saw a balcony, he was hoping there would be no one there, so he could get into the home and find Peggy. As luck would have it, the room was occupied by the one person he wanted to see. He could see Peggy reading a book on the inside, and knocked three times on the window.

Peggy turned around, dropping her book, before hurrying to open the window for him. “Steve?”

“Peggy!” He said, before tripping into the room. “Thank god”

“Where have you been? The town crier said something about a mystery woman…” Peggy said with a frown, helping him to his feet. 

“I can explain all that, but I need to say something first” Steve grabbed her arms gently and led her back to the couch. “This morning, before I met you, I was absolutely terrified of marriage. But now, I believe there’s nothing more in this world that I want then to spend it with you”

Steve watched as Peggy’s whole body relaxed, a smile curving her lips. “So you’re saying you do want to marry me?”

“Yes, more than anything in the world”

“Oh Steve, I was so worried when I heard the town crier”

Steve smiled wearily. He was about to explain when he noticed Darcy walking around and climbing through the window. “I.. uh…”

“Steve?” Peggy asked. 

“Darling?” Darcy cried, flinging her veil off her face from where it had fallen when she climbed into the room. “I decided I couldn’t wait and-” She looked up and saw Peggy and Steve together. Her smile dropped as she dragged Steve towards her, “Darling? Who is this?”

Peggy crossed her arms, “Who are you?”

Darcy shot out her hand, “I’m his wife” she said as she flashed the ring in Peggy’s direction. 

“Steve?!” 

Steve shook his head, “I can explain. She’s dead” Steve lifted Darcy’s skeletal arm and shook it. “This doesn’t change what I said earlier”

Peggy shook her head, “Steve… I…”

Darcy took a step back and glared at them both, “ **Hopscotch”** she grabbed Steve and dragged him backward as he called out Peggy’s name, but it was too late, they were back where they started. 

“You  _ lied  _ to me!” Darcy cried, pushing Steve away from her. “You didn’t want to see your mother, you wanted to see another  _ woman!” _

Steve grimaced, “But don’t you see?  _ You’re  _ the other woman!”

Darcy shook his head and started to cry, making Steve feel panicked, “No,  _ she’s  _ the other woman! You’re married to me!!”

Elder Gutknecht, who had been sitting up on his pedestal reading a book, looked over at Steve. “She’s got a point”

Steve huffed and rubbed at his forehead. “Darcy, this could have never worked. We’re too different! For one thing, I’m alive and you’re dead”

“Then why did you ask me to marry you?” She practically wailed. 

“It wasn’t for you,” he tried to explain “I would never marry you” the second he heard the words coming out of his mouth, he winced. That hadn’t been what he meant to say. 

Darcy sniffed in his direction and immediately walked off. 

“Oh, dear… I hadn’t-” he stepped forward to follow her. 

“Leave her be, son, it’s not every day you get spurned but yet  _ another  _ husband” Elder Gutknecht said wisely. 

Steve sighed, “I guess you’re right”

  
  


~

Darcy walked down the steps from Elder Gutknecht’s crumbling home and over into the town square, before plopping down on a nearby coffin-bench. “I just don’t understand..” she said with a sigh. 

“What don’t you understand?” Mrs. Widow (one of the black widows who lived in the town with them) said as she dangled down from her web. 

“Why he wants to be with  _ her _ . We’re married!”

Mrs. Widow nodded sagely, “That’s just men for you. They take whatever they want, and leave everything else behind. Why he should want her over you, I’ll never know. Why you’re more… you have… well… you have a  _ wonderful  _ personality!” Mrs. Widow finished. 

Darcy shook her head and laid down against the bench, “Apparently that’s not enough for him. Oh, if only I were human again, then he would love me. Or if he was dead. Then we could be together always”

Mrs. Widow crept down further from her perch to rest along Darcy’s elbow, patting it consolingly. “Don’t you worry dear, I’m sure we’ll figure something out”

Darcy nodded miserably, “Here I thought I was dead… But I guess I still had a couple more tears to shed”

“Oh dear,” Mrs. Widow said with a shake of her head. “Such a shame”

  
  


*******

Peggy paced back and forth in her room for several minutes after Steve and the woman disappeared from Peggy’s room. After going through every single option she could think of, she decided her best course of action was to call her mother. 

“Please mother, you must help me! Steve was here and I-” she explained as soon as her mother and one of the lady servants arrived. 

“Steven was in your room? Oh dear, the shame!” Her mother cried out, cutting Peggy off. 

Peggy shook her head, “Mother you must understand. He’s married to a dead woman! We  _ must  _ save him!”

“A dead woman? My dear, you’ve gone mad!” Her mother turned to the servant. “Lock her in her room, she mustn't escape”

“Mother, no! Please!” Peggy called out as her mother and the servant locked her in her room. “Oh dear.. Whatever shall I do?”

Peggy paced back and forth once more before an idea popped into her head. Throwing open her windows, she quickly tied her bedsheets together, tied one end to the balcony, and threw the other end over the side. 

“If my parents won’t help me, surely Father Henrick will!” She quickly climbed down her makeshift rope and quickly ran to the church.

She arrived shortly and banged the church door handles until Father Henrick finally opened the doors. 

“Ms. Carter? What in the world are you doing here this late at night?” Peggy would have felt sorry for waking the priest, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Father, you  _ must  _ help me! It is of the utmost importance, a matter of life and death. Steven has married someone who doesn’t belong to our world. He’s married… a… a corpse bride!” She finished frantically. 

“My dear, what are you talking about?”

“Father, please, we  _ must  _ help Steve”

The priest hummed for a moment and then nodded. “I have just the thing to help us”

“Oh thank you father”

The man nodded, grabbed Peggy’s arms, and dragged her back to her home. Peggy wasn’t undignified to kick and scream in indignation, but she did make the priest work for it. 

Her mother answered the door, “Margaret? What in the world? Why are you outside?”

The priest shoved Peggy towards her mother, “She was at the church talking tongues! She must be going mad”

Her mother passed Peggy off to a servant, “Thank you, father. We’ll handle it from here, we’re sorry to have bothered you”

The priest and Peggy’s mother said their farewells, and the doors closed. 

“Lock her in her room, and this time be sure she doesn’t leave!” Her mother called to the servants, who dragged Peggy up the stairs.

“No, please! You must listen to me! Father? Mother? Please!” She called out, to no avail. 

~

Peggy’s mother and father stared at their doorway. “This is absolutely horrible. We’ll be the laughing stock of the town! We won’t be able to show our faces again” Peggy’s mother said with a sigh. 

“Not to mention we’ll be flat broke and in ruins,” Peggy’s father said with a grunt. “The shame to end all shames”

“I’m terribly sorry for what has happened,” Lord Schmidt said from behind them, making them both turn. “Why if I had someone like Margaret as my bride, I would lavish her with riches untold”

The two looked at each other, and then over to him. Already thinking of a plan. “Well… Your lady bride must be very lucky” The mother said calmly. 

“Alas, I am not married,” Lord Schmidt pressed a hand to his heart. It almost looked sincere. “I did have a fiance a long time ago, but she perished before we could marry. Oh, if only I were to be married…”

Peggy’s father and mother looked at each other again, before nodding and turning to Lord Schmidt.

~

Schmidt grinned wickedly the second Peggy’s parents were gone to share the ‘good news’ with her. 

“Oh my dear,” he said as he stopped next to Peggy’s portrait. “Don’t be too upset about the marriage… You won’t be around long enough to enjoy it”

He brushed his fingertips against the portrait Peggy’s cheeks and then laughed cruelly as he started back towards his room. 

He had a wedding to prepare for. 

~

Peggy was pacing again in her room. She had one servant outside her door, and one guarding her balcony. There was no room to escape this time. She could see the sun just beginning to rise and knew it was almost too late. If they didn’t find Steve soon, her parents were going to forego their marriage. 

Her door crashed open, “Good news Margaret. There will be a wedding after all” Her father said, almost gleefully. 

She let out a sigh of relief, “So you found him? You found Steve?”

Her mother waved a hand. “Of course not, don’t be ridiculous. You shall be marrying Lord Schmidt.”

“What?”

“Don’t argue dear. Now get dressed, our guests shall be arriving shortly, and you need to be ready to marry Lord Schmidt. Everything will go according to plan”

Peggy opened her mouth, but her parents were already out of the room. 

“Oh, Steve…”

  
  


~

“Where in the world is that boy?!” Steve’s mother growled as they traveled around the town in their carriage looking for Steve. “We’ve only got another hour!”

“Don’t worry dear, we’ll find him” Steve’s father said as he patted her hand. 

“Hear ye, hear ye! Rogers boy married a mysterious dead woman, Carter heir, to marry another. Ask all about it!” The town crier said loudly. 

“Another? But it’s not dawn yet! We  _ must  _ hurry!” She said loudly, banging on the ceiling of their carriage. “Hurry up you two!”

The sound of loud coughing could be heard from the front of the carriage. 

“And stop that loud coughing Coulson!” She said as she banged on the roof again. The coughing got louder, and then they heard a cry, and it went silent once more. 

  
  


*******

Steve slowly made his way through the underground village, Elder Gutenicht had told him an hour was long enough, and he should go find Darcy to apologize. Steve was sorry for what he said, he hadn’t meant it the way it sounded. He would have never in a million years wanted to hurt Darcy like that, he just wanted to get home. 

Steve walked through the streets until he came back up to the bar where he had first arrived. Bucky was waiting outside the door, skeletal tail wagging, a bouquet of wilted flowers in his mouth. Steve vaguely recognized them as the flowers Darcy had been holding when he had ‘married’ her. He took them from Bucky and gave the dog a scratch on his noggin. 

Inside, Steve could hear the faint sound of music. It was Darcy, playing the piano softly. Steve couldn’t help but smile, the melody was beautiful. He didn’t know very many women (or even men for that matter) who could play the piano, so it was a nice change from his normal life (maybe the only nice change). 

He crept up slowly and gently placed the flowers on top of the piano, “I think you dropped these”

Darcy looked at the flowers for a moment, before turning her head away. Steve sighed, “Look… I’m sorry for lying to you about going to see my parents, but you must understand, I don’t belong here”

Darcy continued to look away, playing one key at a time with her fingers. Steve sighed again and sat down next to her on the bench, starting to pluck his own fingers against the ivories. Maybe if she wouldn’t respond to his words, she’ll respond to his music. 

Steve ever so slowly played notes, to scales, to melodies. Within time he could see Darcy’s frosty demeanor slowly cracking as she began to play along with him. Steve smiled, it was nice to have someone play the piano with him. It was nice to have someone think like him and be in sync thought-wise on where the melody should go. The two of them looked at each other, and with one final musical phrase, they finished together on a harmonious scale. 

It was silent for a few moments as they looked at each other before Steve cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. “Listen… I-”

He was cut off by the sound of a loud bell clanging in the distance.

“New arrival!!!” Someone shouted over and over as the bar began to fill with more and more dead people, all eager to meet the new person. 

Steve, unfortunately, recognized the man as soon as he stepped into the room. “Coulson? Dear god!” Steve jumped to his feet and headed over to his old employee/comrade “What in the world happened?”

Coulson sighed and rubbed at his neck, “I wasn’t well Mr. Steve, not for a long time, but Clint and I decided to hide it. I guess it’s true what they say though… You got to a better place” Coulson smiled and patted Steve’s arm “I feel better than I have in years”

“But Clint-”

“Knew what was going to happen. We’ll be together again, don’t you worry” Coulson winked and grabbed a tankard of ale that was set next to him. “So this is where you’ve been, hmm? I guess Ms. Carter isn’t as crazy as they say after all”

Steve shook his head, “No…. Speaking of, how is she? What’s going on up there?”

Coulson shrugged his shoulders, “Not completely sure. She’s getting married though”

“Married?! To whom?!” Steve asked, astonished. 

“Some newcomer, Lord something or other” Coulson said with another shrug. “Guess her parents didn’t want to waste the cake”

Steve frowned and looked down at the floor, shaking his head. “Unbelievable… I…” he walked away instead of trying to articulate his thought process. They just decided to marry their daughter up to the next male that showed his face? Not even a full day after the previous groom-to-be went missing? Absolutely astounding. 

“I must think of a plan…”

  
  


*******

Peggy watched in the mirror as her lady servant put on the last touches of her wedding attire. Peggy felt numb as she watched her do it, almost like she was having an out of body experience. 

“Oh my dear, please do try and be happier,” She said as she patted Peggy’s arm. “I know it’s not what you wanted, but try and think of the positive things. With this marriage, you can finally get out of here and on to a better place. If only I could go with you”

Peggy forced a smile to her face, “Thank you, Lucinda. Your kind words truly mean the world to me”

“Good. Now come on, we mustn’t keep your bride-groom waiting”

Peggy sighed and followed her out the door. Her last moments as an unhappily happily unmarried woman were over. 

~

Lord Schmidt raised the candle, “With this candle, I will light your way into darkness” he turned and saw Peggy’s father raise a pocket watch, an obvious symbol to speed things up. He gave a Cheshire grin and turned back to the priest. “With this ring,” he lifted the ring and slipped it onto her ring finger, “I ask you to be mine”

The priest grunted, “With the power vested in me I now pronounce you man and wife”

The solitary small group on the bride’s side of the family (none of the groom’s side) clapped politely, and that was that. Peggy was married to a man she had only met yesterday.

  
  


*******

Steve was curled up, staring down at his hands. He had been sitting there ever since he got the news that Peggy was going to be married to someone else. It was like he could feel it in his heart when the priest told them they were now ‘man and wife’. He sighed, “I’m too late”

Bucky, who was curled up next to him, his snout resting against Steve’s thigh, whined in solidarity. Steve gave him a weary smile and scratched his head. “At least I still have you old chum”

Bucky barked and stood up, his tail wagging. 

“What’s a matter boy?”

Bucky barked again and trotted away from Steve, and over to the bar. Steve frowned and followed along, unsure what hijinks the dog may be leading him to. 

The back door of the bar was slightly open. He could see Darcy talking with the barmaid/cook who had been there when he first arrived. 

“But he didn’t even say anything! Are all men like that?”

“Yes my dear, I’m afraid so. Not a thought in their heads, them” She said consolingly as she chopped up something, Steve wasn’t quite sure what. 

Steve looked down at Bucky in confusion, still wondering why the dog had brought him over here when Elder Gutenicht burst in through another door. “My dear, there are some complications with your marriage”

Darcy spun around, “Complications? What do you mean?”

The man sighed and looked down at the big book in his hands. “When you made your vows, they were until  _ death  _ do you part”

“Right?”

“But my dear,  _ death  _ already parted you”

Both Steve and Darcy froze. Darcy let out a gasp, “Oh dear. If he finds out, he’ll leave! Is there something we can do?”

The old man sighed again, “Yes. But it won’t be easy”

“Please Elder Gutenicht..”

“My dear, because it is his heart that is separating you, we must stop it completely”

“You don’t mean..”

“Yes my dear, we must kill him. If you wish to stay married, he must renew his vows in the land of the living. Then,” Elder Gutenicht moved the book around and showed Darcy a picture of a bottle of wine with what looked like to Steve crossbones on the inside of it “He must drink from the wine of the dead”

“Poison…”

“Yes my dear, poison. It will stop his heart, and you shall remain married for the rest of time”

Darcy sniffed and dropped down to her knees. “Oh I could never ask him to do such a thing”

Steve looked back down at Bucky, who wagged his tail again. “You’re right boy, you’re not the only thing I have left” he whispered before opening the door “You don’t have to Darcy, I’ll do it.”

Darcy looked up at him, astonished. “What?”

Steve went over and helped her back to her feet, “I said I’ll do it. I’ll stay married to you Darcy. That is if you want me to”

“I want you to,” She said quietly. 

“My boy, do you know what you’re agreeing to?” Elder Gutenicht said gravely. 

Steve nodded, “I do. We all have to die sometime, don’t we? Why not now”

“Then so be it”

Steve smiled at Darcy, who gave a weak smile back.

“Oh my dear, now I have to make a wedding cake!” The woman said from behind them with a wail. “I must get started now!”

Steve chuckled and grabbed Darcy’s hand, pulling her from the room, “Let’s go tell everyone.”

Steve and Darcy hurried to the middle of the town square, and Steve quickly climbed up. “Hello everyone? Hello?”

He kept calling out until everyone finally started to congregate in the town square in front of them.

“Yes, thank you all for being here. Now listen up, everyone! Now Darcy and I have an announcement to make. We’re going to take our wedding party upstairs, and we’re going to it right this time”

An elderly woman in the crowd spoke up, “Upstairs? You mean-?”

“Yes, the land of the living!”

“I didn’t know we could do that.”

“We can today,” Steve smiled “So come everyone. We have a wedding to plan!”

The crowd let out joyous cheers as everyone began to bustle about, all doing small jobs to make sure the wedding was as perfect as it could be for an underworld do. 

Steve was going to help Elder Gutenicht prepare the tonic when a black widow landed on his shoulder. “Oh my dear, you can’t get married like that!”

Steve looked down at himself. His suit that had been finely pressed just a day earlier was covered in dust and ripped in several places. “Thank you Mrs. Widow”

“You’re welcome darling, just stay still and we’ll do the work”

Steve held out his arms and stayed completely still as Mrs. Widow and the rest of her spider friends sewed up his suit, wiping up the dust and grime as they did. It was hard not to twitch as their tiny legs tickled every single part of him. After a few minutes they were done, and Steve was off once more with a “thank you!”

Steve helped a little with every single person he met. Elder Gutenicht with the potion, the barmaid with tasting the cake, a few skeletal children with the decorations they wanted to handmake. It took a couple of hours, but at last, they were finished, and all that was missing was the bride. 

Steve and the rest of the crowd waited as Darcy slowly came down the steps from Elder Gutenicht’s home to meet them. Steve could tell that the spiders had done some magic on her gown too. It wasn’t completely white like it had been when she had been living, but it was no longer in tatters as it had been before. Steve smiled and held out his hand to her as she hit the last step. Like this, she was quite beautiful, and Steve was sure they could be happy together. 

“To upstairs!” He called out. 

  
  


*******

Peggy stared unblinkingly as she sat down at their dining table next to her now-husband. The rest of her meager family were sat all around her, all drab looking and lifeless. One of her relatives had even fallen asleep. Their minimal servants were arranging the food on the table, with Peggy’s lady-servant setting their small wedding cake at the center. 

“Everyone quiet down now,” Lord Schmidt said as he stood up. “Elegance, poise, regality. These are three qualities that Margaret has found in her husband. Me.” He turned and lifted his glass towards Peggy, who still sat faced forward unflinching. “We are sure to live a life together that we both deserve.”

Peggy did not move or respond, not even when the lights began to flicker, and ghoulish figures began to flood the dining hall. The guests began to scream and run about, tipping over plates of food and chairs. Peggy could even see her great-grandfather tottering around the hall looking for something to drink. It would have been terrifying if it wasn’t so comical. Her bridegroom had let out an unmanly shriek and hid beneath the table under Peggy’s dress.  _ That  _ was what finally snapped her out of her reverie. 

“Lord Schmidt?” She asked with amusement tinging her voice. 

The man crawled out from under the table, “That’s it! We’re taking whatever we can and getting out of here”

“Whatever we can?”

“Yes my dear,” He stood up and slicked his hair back. “Your dowry, which now belongs to me.”

“Dowry? I don’t have a dowry?”

“What do you mean? Where’s the money?” He asked angrily. 

Peggy shook her head and stood up, “There is no money. My family married me off to  _ you  _ to save them from the poor house”

“Poor house?” He roared, reaching over to shake Peggy. “Poor house?!”

Peggy quickly extracted herself from his arms. “Yes, poor house. What, Lord Schmidt? Is everything not going according to your plans?”

He snarled, but Peggy had had enough. She walked away from the odious man and out of their mansion without a word. 

Outside on the streets, she saw not a massacre, but a bunch of happy families that were having reunion after reunion with dead loved ones. It brought a small smile to her face as she walked past. She noticed that a crowd was beginning to form as they all began to march towards the church. Not knowing what else to do, she followed along. 

The closer they got to the church, the more the crowd could hear the priest yelling. 

“Stay back! Be gone with you! Foul creatures of the night, you shall not enter!” He cried over and over again, until finally one skeletal male told him to be quiet, and brushed right past him inside. Peggy giggled, she had never seen the priest so flabbergasted. 

Peggy was the last one to slip into the church and saw that it was another wedding. She couldn’t see who the bride and groom were, so she snuck closer to the altar. When she saw that it was Steve and the corpse bride, she couldn’t help but let out a little gasp. She was quickly shushed by a half-rotted corpse at the end of the pew. She clamped her lips shut and hid behind a column. 

  
  


~

Steve held hands with Darcy as Elder Gutenicht began to start the sermon. It wasn’t a very long one, not like what the priest would have done, but it was long enough that it wasn’t just their vows and death. 

Elder Gutenicht gestured to the chalice in front of him, “We may begin with the vows.”

Steve nodded, “With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine”

Elder Gutenicht nodded, “Your turn my dear”

Darcy nodded and grabbed the wine bottle of poison. “Will this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty..” Darcy trailed off when she noticed Peggy hiding behind the column. She shook her head and looked back at Steve. “Your cup will never empty, for I will be..” She trailed off again as she looked at Peggy. The other woman was standing next to the column now, a look of sadness covering her expression. 

“My dear?” Elder Gutenicht prompted. 

“Are you alright?” Steve asked. 

Darcy nodded, “Your cup will never empty..” She poured the poison into his cup but trailed off again as she looked at Peggy. 

“For I will be your wine” Steve finished, lifting the chalice to his mouth to drink. 

Darcy quickly placed her hand over it, “Stop. Wait”

He lowered the chalice, “Darcy?”

“I can’t do this…” She said sadly, causing the crowd to gasp. 

“Why not?”

“Because of her” Darcy gestured to Peggy behind him, causing Steve to spin around. “My happiness was stolen from me, but I refuse to do it to someone else. I love you Steve, but you’re not mine”

Steve shook his head, his arms wrapping around Peggy’s waist as she leaned against him. “I… I can’t…”

“Oh, how touching!” A voice said from the entrance of the church. It was Lord Schmidt. “Truly and absolutely touching, in fact, I almost shed a tear.” He shot his hands out, “Our young lovers together at last. Maybe now they can finally be together. But you forget” Lord Schmidt tugged Peggy away from Steve and yanked her against his body, “She’s still  _ my  _ wife!! And I’m not leaving here without something to show for it!”

Darcy’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Lord Schmidt. The years may have changed him, but she would recognize him  _ anywhere.  _ “ **You”**

Lord Schmidt turned his head to look at her, his eyes widening with recognition. “D-darcy?”

Darcy’s teeth clenched as she stepped forward, “ **_You_ ** ”

“But… I left you-!” He stammered out. 

“For dead”

The congregation gasped in unison. So it was Lord Schmidt who had murdered Darcy for her dowry and left her in the forest to rot. That was not something that this group of people would take lightly. 

Lord Schmidt began to panic, “O-obviously this woman is delusional… and really, we must be on our way” he began to tug Peggy, who attempted to yank from his hold. Lord Schmidt flipped around a couple of times as fear began to take over, before grabbing the sword that Steve had grabbed on his first day in the underworld. “Stay back!” He cried out.

“Take your hands off her!’ Steve said angrily, walking forward. 

“Do I have to kill you too?” Lord Schmidt spat out. 

“Steve, catch!” the barmaid called out, throwing him what Steve hoped was a sword or at least a knife. A kitchen fork landed in his hands, he shot her a look. 

“Sorry, best I could do”

Steve sighed and lifted the fork up as Lord Schmidt’s sword swung down. Both Darcy and Peggy clasped hands and took several steps back. They watched with bated breath as Steve and Lord Schmidt battled around the church, going up and over pews, banging into columns, knocking over displays. 

They let out a gasp when Steve tripped backward and was at the mercy of Lord Schmidt. Darcy knew she had to do something, and let go of Peggy’s hand, stepped into the sword’s path as Lord Schmidt struck at Steve. 

The sword went through her ribcage but didn’t touch Steve. She gave a satisfied smile and pulled the sword out, pointing it at the man. “I’ll show you more kindness than you ever showed me. Get out”

Lord Schmidt clicked his tongue and slicked his hair back. “Oh I will, but first a drink, to Darcy!” He grabbed the chalice full of poison, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride… Tell me, my dear, does a heart still break once it’s stopped beating?”

Darcy’s eyes narrowed, her satisfied smirk still in place, she knew what was about to happen. 

“Lemme at him! Lemme at him!” The barmaid hissed, being held back by several other people, both living and dead. 

“Hold on, my dear” Elder Gutenicht said, his arm held up. “We have to follow by their rooms since we are in the land of the living” 

“Well said,” Lord Schmidt said, before drinking the entire contents on the chalice. He started to walk towards the back of the church but bent over double with a gasp. His skin went from white to pale blue, a signal that his heart had stopped and he was officially dead. 

“Not anymore,” The barmaid said with a wicked grin. 

“You’re right,” the elder said. “He’s all yours!”

Lord Schmidt cried out and started to paw at the door that led to the back of the church, the dead all beginning to march towards him. They all pushed him into the room, and the barmaid shut it with a wicked “ _ New arrival” _

Peggy quickly wrapped her arms around Steve’s waist, “Oh Steve I thought I would never see you again” 

Steve smiled and kissed her forehead, “I know. But, I did make a promise…” he extracted himself from Peggy’s arms and turned towards Darcy. 

Darcy smiled and gripped his hand in her own. “You kept your promise, Steve. You set me free, now I can do the same for you” She grabbed Peggy’s hand and placed it into Steve’s with a happy sigh. 

Steve smiled in return and wrapped his arms around Peggy as Darcy slowly walked out of the church. She still had her flowers in her hands, and with a wink, she threw them behind her where they landed in Peggy’s hands. She nodded to Peggy and continued out of the church. 

Darcy looked up at the moon, it truly was so beautiful. With a relieved sigh, she felt herself melt into the night. 

Steve and Peggy watched as Darcy’s body faded and hundreds of butterflies began to fly towards the moon. 

It was beautiful, just what she would have wanted.

  
  


_ The End.  _

**Author's Note:**

> (( You can prompt me if you wish for other fics, or for any ideas you may have about this fic at [ Hellogoodbye](http://hellogoodbye741.tumblr.com/ask) ))


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